Crimes and Punishments: Sherlock Holmes is the latest video game adaptation of the classic character, Focus Home announced.

Developer Frogwares Studio will abandon the company’s in-house graphics engine in favor of Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 for development on the third-person mystery adventure. It is the first time Frogwares has created a game without using their own engine. Using Unreal Engine 3 will give the game superior graphics and more realistic environments. In addition to life-like lighting and shadows, animations and movement will appear much more fluid.

Crimes and Punishments: Sherlock Holmes will feature eight cases written in the tradition of the Sherlock Holmes novels from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Players will take control of the famous character as he attempts to solve mysteries such as murders, thefts and disappearances. While solving cases, gamers will have to make difficult moral decisions that come with repercussions and affect the detective’s reputation. This unique system of actions and consequences gives the game true depth and forces players to think through every choice they make.

Along with the newly enhanced graphics and realistic look, Frogwares has updated the character of Sherlock Holmes. Rather than a detective based on the classic 1960s films, the new Sherlock Holmes is a more modern hero that still embodies the spirit of the character.

It appears the Sherlock Holmes of video games has come a long way from the point-and-click adventures fans once became entranced with.

No further details have been revealed about the game. The Testament of Sherlock Holmes released last year for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC to decent review scores. It is likely the new Sherlock Holmes title from Focus Home will be for the same platforms.

There was also no release date announced for Crimes and Punishment: Sherlock Holmes but it is expected to be available sometime this year.

Ryan Bloom

Ryan Bloom is a writer and avid gamer from Orange County. He received a B.A. in Communications with a minor in American Studies from California State University, Fullerton in 2010. Follow him on Twitter @BloomsTweets.